stop apologizing
when you want to say "get bent"
stop worrying
about ruining his career
when he makes your world a living hell

stop confining yourself
to four line stanzas and iambic pentameter
**** writing for anyone else
when it is your soul that needs soothing
may your words overflow the lines that have been drawn for you

stop hanging on
to the person you once though existed
detach yourself from the veiled existence
and run the other way.
you shine too bright to let anyone dim your light

i couldn't be stopped.
rooted in struggle, aimed towards the sun,
set to defy the forces pulling me into the dirt;
i was born to grow.

the sun is nothing but a flower
the petals created by the blur
of my own vision

I want to send you every poem I ever wrote about you
I want to reconnect and regrow our roots together
I have so many things I want to say to you
But none of them seem worth your time

None of them seem worth the inevitable frustration when you stop responding
And suddenly here I am, wanting to text you
Wanting to tell you everything
Without knowing at all what to say

beer tastes better from the glass of my enemy
water is cooler after running a mile on an august afternoon
her cold voice is sweeter now that she's gone
passion fills me after endless starving
and loving myself feels so good
after years of hating this body that I occupy

my iron reserve is steadfast.
and then
i catch a glimpse of your smile
hear the liquid candor of your true laugh
witness the sun falling on your skin,
glistening in your hair
changing your eyes from brown to hazel to green
sparking me to ashes again and again,
i fall to pieces,
and i'd fall to pieces for an eternity of that moment
with you

Seeking the warmth of your laugh on a summer day,
Waiting for you to stir in the next room over,
Listening for the chrome of your voice in the darkness,
I am met with silence.

But silence and I are old friends:
I respect her as a dynamic force of nature,
She gives me plenty of space to reflect,
Together we fill the void you left behind